Multiple knife



M. E. BECKER MULTIPLE KNIFE March 15, 1949.

Filed May 16. 1944 Hime/vn March 15, 1949. M E, BECKER 2,464,206

MULTIPLE KNIFE Filed May 16. 1944 l 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

.l/awo Becker March 15, 1949. M. E, BECKER 2,464,206

MULTIPLE KNIFE Filed May 16. 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 y l JNVENTOR.

fa/70 f. Becker 9770/?/VEY Patented Mar. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE Claims.

The present invention relates to multiple bladed knives, and moreparticularly to a knife especially suitable for making simultaneously aplurality of cuts in materials wherein the coating or the like on oneside of the material must notv be damaged while making the cuts.

The invention is described in connection with a knife adapted for use inthe fur trades where -skins are prepared for use in coats and othergarments, and for other purposes, by cutting the, same into aconsiderable number of narrow strips. 'I'hese strips are afterwardsre-arranged and sewn together to obtain particular patterns and effects.

Different furs are treated differently in that the width of the cutstrips will vary as between a mink or sable on the one hand (in whichthe -strips are narrow) and foxes on the other hand (in which the stripsare normally several times wider).

Narrow strips are of the order of one-fourth an inch and the widerstrips are of the order o a multiple bladed knife in which the bladesare,`

readily assembled upon and removed from a holder, and yet the blades arefirmly held in spaced relation with freedom from chattering or lateralvibrations which would disturb the regularity of the cuts or slits.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel constructionof holder of a convenient size and shape to conform to the hand when theholder is held between the thumband second nger with the fore-fingerresting on top of the. holder, and yet capable of holding a plurality ofblades with spacers therebetween which are locked together and firmlyheld so as to maintain the proper relationship of the spaced bladeswhile simultaneously making the cuts or slits.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved mountingfor the cutting blades of a multiple-bladed knife.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide improved formsof cutting knives,`

Therefore, these cuts are made from then Other and further objects oithis invention will be apparent from this specification, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in

. Which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of theimproved fur cutting knife herein disclosed, showing the use of twocutting blades;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, considerablyenlarged to bring out details of construction;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of this inventionshowing the use of four blades and demountable spacers.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, also in enlargeddetail;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of another embodiment of my improved knifeespecially adapted for ready vvariable spacing of cutting blades, partsbeing broken away and sectioned to facilitate illustration;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the knife of Fig.' 5, parts being brokenaway;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view on the line 'l-l of Fig. 6; and

Figs. 8 to 11 are perspective views of different forms of demountablecutting blades for use in holders, such as shown in these drawings, orthat of my copending application, now Patent No. 2,364,339, issuedDecember 5, 1944.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the tool comprises a centralholder 20, generally T- shaped in cross section, and two outer clampingplates 2l and 22, respectively located on opposite sides of the T-shapedholder 20, and pivoted thereto as indicated at 23. As seen in Fig. 2,and as will be further described, the clamping plates 2| and 22, when inassembled positions, are located beneath the respective horizontalportions of the T-shaped center member 20. The holder is relativelynarrow from side to side, has its greatest height forwardly of thevertical center line of the holder, tapers downwardly and forwardlyrather sharply to the front edge 2li, and tapers rearwardly anddownwardly in a more general curve, as 4indicated at 25 to the extendedrear end of the holder. The bottom edge 26 l tapers downwardly from therear point to sub- T-shaped member 20. The posts or keys 28 aretriangular in cross section and extend outwardly a less distance thanthe horizontal portions of the T-shaped member, for rea-sons which willappeal as the description proceeds. The posts 28 are arranged with thebottom edges thereof substantially parallel with the bottom edges of theknife blades.

The cutting knives may be of various shapes, several of which areillustrated in these drawings. In Fig-s. l, 2, and 8, the cutting blades3|' are wedge-shaped in cross section tapering downwardly from the widetop edge to the. sharpened bottom cutting edge. The blades are providedwith a pair of triangular shaped apertures 32 or a size to t upon theposts Z8, and the forward portions of the blades are tapered forwardlyand downwardly, as indicated at 33, terminating in a sharpened point 34,which is the portion with which the cutting of the iur skin is done.

A pair of the blades 3i are assembledl upon the central member 2li ofthe holder, as seen. in Fig. 1, the following procedure being suggested:After the first blade 3i is placed upon its pair of posts 2B, the sideplate 2 l' is moved into position, shown in Fig. 2, for which purposeeach of the side plates is provided with a pair of triangular shapedopenings 35 to also t upon the posts 28. The posts are purposelyshortened so that the side plate can be sprung slightly to clear theposts. Next, the clamping screw 35 is passed through registered openings3l and 33 in the side plate 2l and the T-shaped central member 2B,respectively. It will be noted that the openings are as near thevertical center line of the blades as possible, and also occur justabove the blades, although the screw could be arranged to pass throughthe blades, if desired.

After the first blade is located as described,

the second blade 3l is placed upon its pair of posts 28 and the clampingplate 22 is brought intoposition as shown in Fig. 2. The side plate 22may be provided with a slot 39 for the screw 36, in addition to theopenings 35 for the posts 28, as already described. Finally, a wing nut4! is applied to the bolt 35 and is tightened up to securely lock allthe parts in the assembled positions. It will also be understood thatthe bolt and nut arrangement are merely indicative of a clamping means,any suitable arrangement being contemplated that will fasten the bladesin place.

It will be observed from Figs. 1 and 2 that 'substantially all of theside areas of the blades are covered so that the protruding cuttingpoints will be protected from lateral vibrations as would be caused ifthe blades were not so sustained; and further that the complementarytriangular shaped posts and blade openings perform several functions,such as properly locating the blades to align the same, taking up allthrusts and stresses on the blades when in use, and preventing turningof the blade should lt accidentally come loose from oneof the keys.

Figs. 3 and 4 show a multiple bladed knife similar in generalconstruction to that shown and described in connection with Figs. 1 and2, except blocks 54 of corresponding widths are provided whereby morethan two blades can be mounted for simultaneous use. These blocks areprovided with triangular shaped openings (not shown) of a size andlocation to enable the blocks to be` mounted upon the posts 49.

The cutting blades 53 are wedge shaped from top t0 bottom, as shown in4, and each blade has a pair of triangular shaped openings 55v (Fig. 9)yalso of a size and location to t upon the posts 49. In this form ofblade, the top of the blade is tapered toward each end so as to providea cutting point 56 at each end of the blade, and the Whole bottom edge5l of the blade is sharpened. Thus, when one set of cutting pointsbecomes dull, the blade can be turned around to use the other set oipoints 55 before re-sharpening or replacement.

The assembly ofv the instrument of Figs. 3 and 4 will be apparent from aconsideration of Fig. 4, and the preceding description of Figs. l and 2.A blade 53, followed by a spacer 54, followed by another blade 53, areapplied to one set of posts 49, and the associated side clamping plateis also positioned upon the posts. This assembly is repeated for theopposite side of the holder 45, whereupon the bolt 52 is insertedthrough the opening and clamping nut 5l is applied to clamp the bladesand spacers in operative position with the blades all equi-spaced. Thus,the operator is able to make four cuts with one downward motion of theinstrument. If he desires to make only three cuts at one time, one oithe end blades 53 is omitted in the assembly; and the side plates aresuiiiciently thin and exible that this can be done without damage.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show a construction in which the saine holder may beused with different spacings of the cutting blades, and differentnumbers of blades, entirely at the discretion of the user. For purposesof illustration it is shown with live blades. In this embodiment, theholder ii! may be a block having a wide front portion for holding thecutting blades 62 and a narrowed rear portion 63. The underside of thewide front portion is cut out vor recessed, as indicated at 64, leavinga thin side wall 55 along one side of the holder.

A positioning post 65 is inset in the wall 65 and extends entirelyacross the out out portion 64. As seen in Fig. 6, this post has a squarebottom side and a rounded top side, which construction is shown toillustrate another form of angular positioning post suitable forproperly positioning the cutting blades in the holder and alsomaintainingA them in position during use.

Also inset in thefwall 515 to extend across the cut-out portion 54 isthe clamping bolt 6l. The cutting blades 62 are provided with openings58 and 69 (Fig. 10) of sizes and shapes to fit upon the post 66 and bolt61 respectively. rihe cutting blades are spaced apart by means of spacerblocks 1I which also have openings therein of a size and shape to fitupon the post 55 and bolt 6T. These spacers will be of whatever widththe user desires for the spacing of the cutting blades. It also will benoted that the spacers are substantially the same height as the blades,and that the cut-out portion 64 is of a depth to fit the same, tofurther insure the maintenance of a xed position for the blades in use.

In the assembly of the instrument of Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the blades andthe spacers will be alternately threaded upon the positioning post andclamping bolt, and for whatever number of blades and spacing the usermay wish, after which the side clamping plate 12, which is pivoted at13, is moved into clamping position. In order to further insure that theside plate 'l2 may be properly positioned, the holder El may be providedwith a projecting flange 14 beneath which the clamping plate will fit.After the clamping plate is in position, a nut (not shown) will belapplied to the bolt 6l to clamp and hold the parts in assembledrelation, as will be understood. Various shapes and constructions ofcutting 'blades have been shown and described in connection with Figs.8, 9, and 10. In Fig. 11 is illustrated a further modied form in whichthe cutting blade 8i has a sharpened cutting point 82 and an angularpositioning aperture 83. This blade also is provided with an additionalholding and positioning means on the rear edge thereof which in thisembodiment comprises a dovetail 84. The holder for use with a blade withthe construction of Fig. 11 will have a dovetail mortise receiving thedovetail 84, as shown, for eX- ample, in my copending application SerialNo. 488,705, filed May 27, 1943, now Patent No. 2,364,339, issuedDecember 5, 1944.

It should be noted that the common denominations for all cutting bladesillustrated herein are that each has at least one key engaging orreceiving aperture which is at least partly angular, and all have twospaced key or indexing portions to position the blade.

Various combinations of the elements illustrated and described hereinmay be made, and modifications may be made in the constructionsillustrated without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A fur cutting knife comprising a holder for a plurality ofdemountable blades and having a blade carrying portion integraltherewith and arranged to space apart a pair of blades a xed distance,at least two blade engaging keys projecting from opposite sides of saidcarrying portion, cutting blades mounted thereon and having meanscomplementary with said keys, and means to clamp said blades in fixedoperative position.

2. In a fur cutting knife, a holder for a plurality of spaced,demountable blades, and adapted to be held in the fingers of the hand,said holder comprising a forwardly projecting. centrally disposed, bladecarrying member integral therewith, an upper portion of said holderoverhanging both sides of said blade carrying member, two complementaryangular-shaped blade engaging keys projecting from each side of saidblade carrying member, a pair of blades mounted on said keys, a pair ofblade clamping side pieces pivoted to the rear portion of said holderand adapted to engage said keys, and means to clamp said side pieces andblades to said holder.

3. In a fur cutting knife, a holder for a plurality of spaced,demountable blades, and adapted to be held in the fingers of the hand,said holder comprising a forwardly projecting. laterally disposed, bladecarrying member integral therewith, an upper portion of said holderoverhanging said blade carrying member, two complementary blade engagingkeys cooperating with said blade projecting forwardly thereof, the bladevcarrying member, one of said keys being angular shaped in transversecross-section and projecting laterally from said blade carrying member,at least a pair of blades and a pair of spacers carried by said memberand having means cooperating with said keys, a blade and spacer clampingside piece pivoted to the rear portion of said holder, and adapted toprevent lateral displacement of the blades carried by said bladecarrying member, and means to clamp said side piece and blades to saidholder.

4. In a fur cutting knife, a holder for a plurality of spaced,demountable blades an-d adapted to be held in the hand in the manner ofa writing implement, the holder having a pair of end clamping plates, atleast one of which is movable, at least one angular shaped bladesupporting and positioning key between said plates, a pair ofdemountable blades having means complementary with said key, means forspacing the blades apart a predetermined distance, and means forclamping said blades and spacing means between said plates.

5. In a fur cutting knife, a holder comprising a T-shaped center memberand a pair of outer clamping plates pivoted thereto, angular shaped keysprojecting from opposite sides of the vertical portion of said T-shapedmember, a pair of cutting blades having angular shaped openings ttingsaid keys and also having cutting points projecting forwardly from saidholder, the clamping plates being positioned beneath the horizontalportions of said T-shaped member, and means for clamping said blades andplates to said holder.

6. In a fur cutting knife, a holder comprising a T-shaped center memberand a pair of outer clamping plates pivoted thereto, angular shaped keysprojecting from opposite sides of the vertical portion of said T-shapedmember, a plurality of cutting blades having angular shaped oneningsfitting said keys and also having cutting points projecting forwardlyfrom said holder, spacers cooperating with the vertical portion of saidT-shaped member to maintain said blades spaced apart predetermineddistances and having angular shaped openings fitting said keys, theclamping plates being positioned beneath the horizontal portions of saidT-shaped member, and means for clamping said blades, spacers and platesto said holder.

7. In a fur cutting knife, a holder having a wider front portion and anarrowed rear portion integral therewith, said holder being arranged tobe held in the fingers of the hand, the wide portion being recessed, apair of keys eX- tending across said re-cess, at least one of which isangular shaped, a plurality of cutting blades fitting in said recess andeach having a sharpened point, the blades having openings interfittingwith said keys and so located as to position said blades with thesharpened points aligned and projecting outside said recess, a pluralityof spacers also having openings for said keys and arranged to space saidblades apart, and means for clamping the blades and spacers in saidrecess.

8. In a fur cutting knife, a holder arranged to be held in the ngers ofthe hand, said holder having a recessed front portion defined by a sidewall and a top wall joined together, a pair of keys extending acrosssaid recess, at least one of which is angularly shaped, a cutting bladetting within said recess and having a sharpened point also havingopenings interfitting with said keys, and means on the opposite side vofsaid recess for 'clamping the blade in said recess.

9. A demountable blade for assembly in a fur cutting knife, said bladehaving a top edge, a bottom sharpened edge, and side. edges at least oneof which is inclined to form an acute angle with the bottom cutting edgeand also forming va sharpened cutting point, said blade also having apair of spaced apart key engaging portions, at least one of which isYshaped to conform to and receive a positioning key which is polygonal intransverse cross-section.

10. A demountable Iblade for assembly in a fur cutting knife, said bladehaving a top edge, a bottom sharpened edge, and side edges at least oneof which is inclined to form an acute angle with the bottom cutting edgeand also forming a sharpened cutting point, a pair of spaced apartapertures in said blade shaped to conform to and receive a positioningkey which is polygonal in transverse cross section.

1l. A demountable blade for assembly in a fur cutting knife, said bladehaving a top edge, a bot-tom sharpened edge, and side edges at least oneof which is inclined to form an acute angle with the bottom cutting edgeand also forming a sharpened cutting point, two spaced index portionspositioning the blade, one of said portions comprising an intermediateangular shaped key receiving aperture, and the other of said portionscomprising a projecting marginal member.

12. A demountable blade for assembly in a fur cutting knife, said 'bladehaving a top edge, a bottom sharpened edge, and side edges at least oneof which is inclined to forman acute angle with the bottom cutting edgeand also forming a sharpened cutting point, the portion of the cuttingedge terminating in the cutting point being inclined downwardly withrespect to its side edge and extending below the remainder of saidbottom cutting edge, and at least one positioning key receiving means insaid blade.

13. A demountable blade for assembling in a fur cutting knife, saidblade having a top edge, a bottom sharpened edge, and connecting sideedges each of which forms an acute angle with said cutting edge and alsosharpened cutting points, a pair of spaced apart apertures in said bladeat least one of which is shaped to conform to and receive a positioningkey which is polygonal in transverse cross-section.

14. A fur cutting knife constructed andarranged to be held in thefingers of the hand and comprising a holder for a plurality ofdemountable blades and having a blade carrying portion integraltherewith, at least two blade engaging keys projecting from said bladecarrying portion, cutting blades mounted on said blade carrying portionso as to be substantially co-extensive therewith, each of said bladeshaving a sharpened point at one side thereof projecting beyond saidportion and also having means complementary with said keys to align saidblade points in operative position, and means to clamp said blades infixed operative position'.

15. In a furl cutting knife, a holder comprisin a T-shaped center memberand a pair of outer clamping plates pivoted thereto, angular shaped keysprojecting from opposite sides of the vertical portion of said T-shapedmember, a plurality of cutting blades having angular shaped openingsfitting said keys and also having cutting points projecting forwardlyfrom said holder, spacers cooperating with ythe vertical portion of saidT- shaped member to maintain said blades spaced apart predetermineddistances and having angular shaped openings tting said keys, and meansfor clamping said blades, spacers and plates to said holder.

MAN E. BECKER.

REFERENCES CITD The following references are of record in the le of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 104,706 Codding June 28, 1870172,739 Hoiman dan. 25, 1876 939,846 Matthews Nov. 9, 1909 1,169,665Marx Jan. 25, 1916 1,559,536 Alden Nov. 3, 1925 1,810,719 Lowenthal June16, 1931 1,835,655 Lehmann Dec. 8, 1931 1,903,789 Michaels Apr. 18, 19332,186,429 Reinwald Jan. 9, 1940

